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What's the white box used for in this meeting house network?

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:04 pm
by justincy
See the attached picture. I can account for everything except for the white box in the middle of the picture. It seems to be functioning as just some sort of pass-through. The connection to the ISP comes into the back via a large white cable then out the front via a small green cable. Our two WAPs go through it also. Then there's one white cable out the back that I can't account for; it's labeled WAP but we only have two WAPs, not three.

Can you explain to me what that box is?

Re: What's the white box used for in this meeting house netw

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:23 pm
by lajackson
Might be a switch, as you have guessed. The one white cable out the back may have something to do with the Facilities Network, i.e., the thermostats, etc., which really should be coming out of Port 3 on the Firewall.

Re: What's the white box used for in this meeting house netw

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:36 pm
by russellhltn
It's nothing more than the termination of the 4 white cables that are bundled together going into the back. Only slightly different than putting male RJ-45s on the end of each cable. I guess you could call it a poor man's patch panel.

Despite the physical size, I doubt if there's anything inside that does any kind of function.

Re: What's the white box used for in this meeting house netw

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:54 pm
by harddrive
Russ, you are correct. It is just a patch panel. If you open it up, you will see that the 4 white cables in the back will terminate at each of the RJ-45 plugs. So the empty slot is for another an extra cable for future expansion to a 3rd WAP.

Terry

Re: What's the white box used for in this meeting house netw

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 5:59 pm
by pete.arnett
Russ and Terry - y'all are accurate as always

It's a patch panel with six (6) slots for snap in connectors (voice or data) that was used by Siemens, (a network install vendor), that did network installation for FHCs in meetinghouses about ten (10) years ago

See in the image that you have Cisco 1200 Wireless Access Points (APs) power modules, there should be three (3) of them and in several locations Siemens did the installs in the Satellite cabinet

Suggest you contact your local friendly Facilitates Management Group (FMG) about scheduling and budging for an upgrade to the meetinghouse network and equipment to current standards and you may want to change location to the DMAC